Barney Frank, one of the first openly gay members of Congress, has died aged 86

Former US congressman Barney Frank, a pioneering Democrat who became one of the first openly gay members of Congress, has died aged 86.

Frank, who represented southern Massachusetts in the House of Representatives for more than three decades, had been receiving hospice care at his home in Maine since April.

A leading figure in the Democratic Party, Frank was widely recognised for his advocacy of LGBTQ+ rights and for helping to reshape US financial regulation following the 2008 financial crisis.

He made history as the first member of Congress to enter into a same-sex marriage while in office and was a prominent supporter of ending the US military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, which barred gay and lesbian personnel from serving openly.

Frank also campaigned for legislation to ban workplace discrimination against LGBTQ+ employees.

“He was, above all else, a wonderful brother. I was lucky to be his sister,” his sister, Doris Breay, told NBC Boston.

Jim Segel, Frank’s former campaign manager, told Axios: “He notified everybody that he was in hospice, so it was just a matter of time. He was certainly at peace with himself.”

He added: “He certainly left a mark, and he was a leader on civil rights, on gay rights, on leading other marginalised communities, and then he helped the country get through the 2008 financial crisis, which was the most significant recession, depression, almost since 1930.”

Frank served in Congress from 1981 until 2013 and became one of the principal architects of the Dodd-Frank Act, the landmark banking reform introduced after the global financial crash.

The legislation, named after Frank and Democratic Senator Chris Dodd, created new regulatory bodies and imposed tighter oversight on banks in response to the subprime mortgage crisis that helped trigger the recession.

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi paid tribute to Frank on X, describing him as “an exceptional legislator, whose name is synonymous with the strongest consumer financial protections in history and whose advocacy helped forge a fairer future for all of our children”.

Even during hospice care, Frank continued to comment publicly on politics and his life’s work. Earlier this month, he told CNN presenter Jake Tapper: “I’m filled with disgust at the current state, but optimism that it’s going to get better.”